Birth

catchall for birthing issues

How often do Soay ewes produce twins?  Some thoughts and some data

How often do Soay ewes produce twins? Some thoughts and some data

For those of you interested in twinning rates, we have some data, but first a couple of comments and several caveats. We do not have any way to analyze the effect of nutrition on whether a ewe has twins. The commercial breeders use a system called “flushing” to get their ewes to twin. It involves […]

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2017 Soay lambs at Saltmarsh Ranch: the first wave

2017 Soay lambs at Saltmarsh Ranch: the first wave

In our 14 years of Soay shepherding we often have been lucky to have really really good photographers on-site to help record the irresistible new lambs. This year is no exception. Here are our first eight heritage sheep — four sets of twins — captured by another worthy visiting photographer. Most or all of these […]

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Fun with naming Soay twins

Fun with naming Soay twins

Before Soay lambing starts in earnest around the country, I thought you might get a kick out of some of the naming pairs our ordinarily serious and conservation-minded colleagues have chosen for their twins. It’s all well and good to use place names, flower names, national park names, girl scientist names, and similarly earnest themes. […]

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Iodine applicators for small heritage sheep: a DIY solution

Iodine applicators for small heritage sheep: a DIY solution

Nothing we do to keep our sheep healthy is as basic and simple as putting iodine on every newborn Soay lamb’s navel. Just when the poor newborn is staggering around trying to figure out where on earth that udder and nipple are that it so urgently needs to find, the lamb’s moist umbilical is dragging […]

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Yet another update on ear tags small enough for Soay lambs

Yet another update on ear tags small enough for Soay lambs

Will the search never end? With Dalton’s wonderful little tags no longer available, options are limited. As I’ve said repeatedly on this blog, it is nearly impossible to find ear tags small enough and light enough to work in a lamb’s ear as small as heritage Soay sheep. Even the round white adult USDA tags […]

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One more word about lamb tags for Soay sheep

One more word about lamb tags for Soay sheep

With the decision by the new owners of Dalton not to bring back their wonderful Supersmall eartags, breeders of small heritage sheep are left to search yet again for a source of eartags small enough for their lambs’ ears. It is tempting to just put adult tags in and hope the lamb’s ear will not […]

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